Booklouse

Subject: household bug, a few living in my computer… nothing to worry about? Location: Oakland, California March 30, 2017 5:37 pm Hello, bugman! Thank you from the bottom of my heart … and floorboards? … for all that you’re doing to ID bugs. These little mites might be harmless, as I haven’t seen a single bite yet, but there are many dozens of them every month crawling along the wooden floorboards of my apartment in Oakland, California. A few appear on my computer from time to time. What do you think? Harmless? Signature: David

Booklouse

Dear David, Though they are quite small, this is not a Mite. It is a Booklouse, an innocuous creature that could become a nuisance if they get plentiful. According to the North Carolina State University Department of Entomology: “The presence of booklice can be quite an annoyance; however, they rarely cause significant damage to items. Most often, the damp conditions and developing mold or fungi have already caused the damage.”